Introduction

The goals of basic education are for the students to gain skills and knowledge and

to become better and more capable persons than when they started attending school.

Moreover, education promotes lifelong social and integral education. Upon realizing

these goals, educated individuals are now equipped with knowledge, skills, favorable

attitude and values which will enable them to give back to the communities the fruit of

what they have learned from long years of going to school. They can truly be productive

citizens who are not only knowledgeable and competent but also individuals who

manifest perseverance, integrity and self-respect, among others.

In order to achieve the basic goals of education, the Philippine government has

already implemented the K to 12 educational system. It aims to enhance learners’ basic

skills, produce more competent citizens, and prepare graduates for lifelong learning and

employment.As an important part of K to 12, the subject which is composed of Music,

Arts, Physical Education and Health (MAPEH) contributes a lot especially to the goals of

basic education. It is an important subject because its skills or competencies relate to

other skills, and the four aforementioned main components are related to daily life.

As an important component of MAPEH, health subject aims to contribute

significant knowledge and skills which the learners can utilize in their daily living.

Through the achievement of learning competencies in health subjects, students are

supported in their efforts to apply knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors towards achieving

wellness and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Health education builds students'

knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes toward health and life. It teaches about physical,

mental, emotional and social health. It motivates students to improve and maintain their

health, prevent diseases, and reduce risky behaviors.

Students’ learning experiences become more meaningful when the learning

competencies for a particular subject or course are achieved. In every curriculum,

learning competencies are always specified to attain the necessary knowledge, skills and

abilities to successfully perform the tasks required for the subject. In the teaching and

learning process, it is important for students to demonstrate that they have learned the

competencies they are expected to learn as they progress through the educational ladder.

In line with this, teachers must always ensure that students are acquiring the knowledge

and skills that are deemed essential in learning the course or subject. Sometimes,

competencies are also considered as learning outcomes since they focus on what the

student is able to do at the end of the course.

Undoubtedly, achieving the learning competencies set for Grade 9 Health

curriculum could produce students who are equipped with necessary knowledge and

skills for disaster preparedness and community health development. This is also in line

with the nation’s goal of creating citizens who are not only imbued with knowledge and

skills but also with caring, self-reliant, productive and patriotic qualities. These are the

citizens whocan respond effectively to the challenges of the 21st century. As future

secondary teachers with major in MAPEH, the researchers felt the need to conduct a

study on the assessment of the achievement of learning competencies in Health 9 which

could serve as a strong foundationin formulating planson how to develop further the

knowledge and skills stated in the curriculum.

Furthermore, this study could fill the gap in the research area in MAPEH and K12

curriculum at this early stage of implementation in the country. It should be mentioned

also that assessment on the achievement of learning competencies in MAPEH

components in junior high school in the locality of Batangas City and among the schools

in the Division of Batangas City has not yet been done. With the aforementioned

reasons, the researchers were motivated to pursue this study which could enhance

MAPEH teaching and learning.

Summary

This study aimed to determine the students’ achievement of competencies in

Health 9 as assessed by teachers and students from selected secondary schools in the

Division of Batangas City. Three content areas of Health 9, namely, Community and

Environmental Health, Prevention of Substance Use and Abuse, and Injury Prevention,

Safety and First Aid were assessed by these two groups of respondents composed of 29

MAPEH teachers teaching Health 9 and 349 Grade 10 students who have taken Health 9

in the previous academic year. Their assessments were compared to find out if

significant differences existed in their responses. The researchers also study about the

problems met by the teachers in achieving the desired competencies in health 9.

 The descriptive method of research was used with questionnaire as the main data

gathering instrument. The data gathered were analyzed by using weighted mean and t-

test.

As an output of the study, some meaningful learning activities that could

encourage active involvement of students, collaborative learning and problem solving

activities were prepared by the researchers. It was recommended that these prepared

learning activities be used by the Health 9 teachers to get feedback which would be the

basis for improving these instructional materials.

Statement of the Problem

This study aimed to determine the students’ achievement of competencies in

Health 9 as assessed by teachers and students from selected secondary schools in the

Division of Batangas City.

Specifically, it sought answers to the following questions:

1. What are the competencies achieved by the students in Health 9 as assessed by

the teachers and students themselves on the following content areas:

1.1 Community and Environmental Health;

1.2 Prevention of Substance Use and Abuse; and

1.3 Injury Prevention, Safety and First Aid?
2. Are there significant differences in the responses of the two groups of

respondents?
3. What are the problems met in achieving the desired competencies?
4. What learning activities may be prepared?
Scope, Delimitation and Limitation of the Study

The study was concerned primarily with the assessment of students’ achievement

of learning competencies in Grade 9 Health. The learning competencies were lifted from

the DepEd recommended Grade 9 Health curriculum. These competencies covered the

three major content areas such as Community and Environmental Health, Prevention of

Substance Use and Abuse, and Injury Prevention, Safety and First Aid. The assessmentsof

the two groups of respondents composed of 29 teachers teaching Health 9 and 349

students from the selected secondary schools in the Division of Batangas City were

compared. This study was delimited to those students who have not yet taken nor finished

the Grade 9 Health curriculum. Teachers who have no experience in teaching Health 9

were also excluded in the study. Learning competencies in health curricula from other

grade levels were also beyond the scope of this study.

For its limitation, the study dealt only with the responses of the students who

answered the survey instrument. The student-respondents were Grade 10 enrolled during

the school year 2017-2018. The result of the study was also limited to the learning

competencies stated in K to 12 Health Curriculum Guide of 2013 for Grade 9.

Significance of the Study

A number of people concerned with health teaching and learning as well as other

groups of professionals could be benefitedby the study particularly the MAPEH health

teachers, Grade9 students, curriculum planners as well as other researchers.

For the curriculum planners, they could be enlightened by the findings of the study

as the data gathered may be used as a basis for assessing the relevance and effectiveness
of the curriculum on health.School administrators will surely be guided by the findings

regarding problems encountered by the teachers in achieving health competencies. With

these objective data, they could address the identified concerns more effectively and

efficiently. Also MAPEH teachers,they could be motivated to utilize the prepared

learning activities in order to facilitate and enhance the achievement of learning

competencies in Grade 9 Health. The ultimate beneficiaries of the study are the students

since the findings of the study could give them insights into the need to expand their

knowledge about health, develop varied skills in maintaining physical, mental and

emotional health, and show more desirable attitude towards health concerns. And lastly

for future researchers, they may use the findings and recommendations of the study as

vital data and bases for conducting a parallel study. Since the present study is a

preliminary research on the status of achievement of learning competencies in Health 9,

future researchers may be guided by the baseline results and output of this study in the

conduct of similar research.

Conceptual Framework

Competencies of students are defined as a set of abilities that students need to

develop in a designed educational program. As a vital part of the curricula in MAPEH,

health subject contains specific competencies in its different content areas. Health in

Grade 9 deals with various skills and competencies that involve not only academic

abilities but also life-saving skills, therefore, must be learned by students. In line with this

view, assessment of the students’ achievement of these competencies is needed to

determine the status of achievement which will lead to the formulation of necessary

actions towards enhancement of said competencies.

This study aimed to determine the achievement of competencies in Health 9 as

input to the development of appropriate learning activities to enhance students’

achievement in the subject.It is a truism that students learn best when they are exposed to

activities that enable them to reflect and apply what they have learned in real life.

Figure 1 shows the paradigm which identifies the input, process and output of the study.

The first box contains the input variables which refer to the level of competencies in

Health 9 of secondary students. Specifically, the data include the learning competencies

achieved by the students in the three content areas of Grade 9 Health, namely,

Community and Environmental Health, Prevention of Substance Use and Abuse, and

Injury Prevention, Safety and First Aid. It also covers the problems encountered by the

teachers in achieving the desired competencies.

The second box presents the data gathering tool used in the study which is the

questionnaire constructed by the researchers, validated by the research panel and

administered to the respondents.

The last box contains the output of the study which is the proposed set of learning

activities designed to enhance students’ achievement of competencies in Health 9.

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

Competencies
achieved by the
students in Health 9
 Community
and
environmental
health
 Prevention of
substance use
. and abuse
Questionnaire Learning Activities
 Injury
prevention,
safety and first
aid
Problems met in
achieving the desired
competencies

Figure 1.Research Paradigm for Achievement of Competencies in Health 9

Hypothesis

The study tested the null hypothesis:

There are no significant differences between the responses of the teachers and

students in their assessments of the competencies achieved by the students in Health 9.

Subjects of the Study

This study used two groups of respondents. The first group was composed of

MAPEH teachers teaching Health 9 and the second group Grade 10 students who have
already completed Grade 9 Health in the previous academic year. Both groups of

respondents were from selected secondary schools in the Division of Batangas City.

Table 1
Distribution of Respondents by School

Students
Schools Population Sample Teachers

Balete National High School 190 22 1

Banaba West National High School 151 18 1
Batangas National High School 1,432 169 13
Libjo National High School 163 19 2
Natalia V. Ramos Memorial NHS 196 23 2
Tabangao National High School 221 26 4
Talahib National High School 147 17 4
Talumpok National High School 193 23 1
TinggaSoro-Soro NHS 270 32 1

Total: 2963 349 29

Data Gathering Instrument

The study made use of researcher-prepared questionnaire for teachers and

students.

Questionnaire.The researcher-made questionnaire, the main instrument used in

gathering data, consisted of two parts. The first part of the questionnaire was about the

level of students’ achievement of the learning competencies in the three learning areas of
Grade 9 Health. The second part was a survey on the different problems encountered by

teachers in teaching Grade 9 Health. They could affect the achievement of the desired

learning competencies. Both groups of respondents answered Part I of the survey

questionnaire. However, only the Grade 9 Health teachers answered this part.

Construction. In constructing the survey instrument, researchers referred to the

learning competencies for Grade 9 Health. All these learning competencies for the

different quarters were lifted from the Grade 9 Health curriculum prepared by the

Department of Education (DepEd). To come up with items for the second part of the

questionnaire, researchers made some readings and observations about the possible

teachers’ problems in teaching the aforementioned subject. Identifying these problems

was considered important for they could affect the achievement of the desired learning

competencies.

Validation. In order to determine the validity of the items in the questionnaire, the

constructed data gathering tool was first presented to the adviser for content checking.

The instrument was also presented to the thesis panel for comments, suggestions and

recommendations. Suggestions were considered and modifications were made and

incorporated for the purpose of attaining a valid research instrument.

Administration. The questionnaire was personally distributed by the researchers to

the respondents of each participating school after having been permitted by their

respective administrators. They asked the assistance of classroom teachers to facilitate the

administration of the questionnaires to the student-respondents. Retrieval of this data

gathering tool was done on the same day that it was administered.
 Scoring of Responses.The responses were scored using frequency count and its

percentage equivalent. To determine the typicality of responses, the following scale was

used:

Options Range Verbal Interpretation

4 3.50-4.00 Very Much Achieved/Always

3 2.50-3.49 Achieved/Sometimes

2 1.50-2.49 Moderately Achieved/Rarely

1 1.00-1.49 Not Achieved/Never

Data Gathering Procedure

A formal request letter addressed to the school principals of the participating

schools was written. It was noted by the research adviser and the dean of the College of

Teacher Education. The letter was personally handed to each school principal of the

participating secondary schools. Upon approval of the request, the researchers distributed

and administered the questionnaires personally to all respondents. After retrieving all the

accomplished survey instruments, the collected data were tallied and then submitted to

the statistician for statistical treatment.

Statistical Treatment of Data

The following statistical tools were used to treat the gathered data:

Weighted mean.This was utilized to determine the typicality of responses in the

questionnaire items with four-scale options. It shows the total assessment of the students’

achievement of competencies in Health 9.

 t-test. This tool was used to find the difference between the responses of the two

groups of respondents regarding the students’ achievement in Health 9 competencies.

Findings

The following were the significant findings of the study:

1. Competencies Achieved by the Students in Health 9

1.1 Community and Environmental Health. The teachers’ assessment of the

seven competencies under Community and Environmental Health obtained a composite

mean of 3.58, verbally interpreted as very much achieved. The students’ assessment of

their competencies in the same area got a composite mean of 3.29 or achieved. The

average of the weighted means from the two groups of respondents yielded a composite

mean of 3.43, qualitatively interpreted as achieved.

1.2. Prevention of Substance Use and Abuse. The 12 competencies in Health 9

concerning Prevention of Substance Use and Abuse got composite means of 3.35 or

achieved from the assessment of teacher-respondents and 3.26 still within the achieved

level from the student-respondents. The composite mean of the average was 3.31,

indicating achieved level of these competencies by the students.

1.3. Injury Prevention, Safety and First Aid. In this area of Health 9, the 13

indicators of competencies yielded composite means of 3.48 for the teacher-respondents’

assessment, 3.29 for the student-respondents and 3.39 for the average of the assessments
from both groups of respondents. All these composite means fell within the achieved

level of competencies attained by the students in their study of Health 9.

2. Differences in the Assessments on Competencies in Health 9

The comparison of the assessments of teachers and students themselves on the

competencies achieved by the students in the three content areas in Health 8 revealed that

Community and Environmental Health obtained a t-value of 2.994 with a p-value of

0.003; Prevention of Substance Use and Abuse got a t-value of 1.204 and a p-value of

1.236; and Injury Prevention, Safety and First Aid had a t-value of 2.550 and a p-value of

0.015.

3. Problems Met in Achieving the Desired Competencies

All the 10 problems encountered by the teachers in achieving the learning

competencies obtained a composite mean of 2.92, with verbal interpretation of

sometimes. Their weighted means ranged from 2.69 to 3.17, all within the verbal

interpretation of sometimes.

4. Prepared Learning Activities

As a response to the findings, the researchers came up with learning activities to

facilitate and enhance the achievement of competencies in Health-9 on the three content

areas, namely, Community and Environmental Health, Prevention of Substance Use and

Abuse, and Injury Prevention, Safety and First Aid.

Conclusions

Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusions were drawn:

1. All of the competencies in Health 9 specified under the three content areas,

namely, Community and Environmental Health, Prevention of Substance Use and Abuse

and Injury Prevention, Safety and First Aid have been achieved by the students.

2. There are significant differences in the assessments of teachers and students in

the achievement of competencies on two areas of Health 9 such as Community and

Environmental Health, and Injury Prevention, Safety and First Aid.

3. There are no serious problems that can hinder the attainment of the desired

competencies in Health 9.

4. The prepared learning activities could help the teachers in achieving the

competencies in Health 9.

Recommendations

Based on the findings and conclusions of the study, the following are the

recommendations:

1. Teachers may use the proposed learning activities to determine their

contribution in achieving the competencies in Health 9. Improvement of these proposed

activities could be done based on their feedback.

 2. More objective data gathering instrument like performance-based assessment

tests should be considered to assess students’ achievement of learning competencies.

3. A similar study should be conducted to determine the effectiveness of the

proposed learning activities in achieving the competencies in Health 9.